Notebook Therapy Haul

For a while now I’ve been wanting to get some of the beautiful Notebook Therapy books and finally after deciding that I wanted to start the new year with a new journal I took the plunge and bought a notebook...or 2...errm okay 3.

          My current journal is good but the pages ghost and sometimes the ink from the fountain pen seep into the pages (depends on the ink) and feathers. I heard good things about the notebooks from Notebook Therapy and that made up my mind. 

          I must confess I wanted to buy all the notebooks on the site. They all looked so amazingly beautiful even the ones with black pages but in the end I settled on these three. 

Tsuki “Dreamy Nights” Limited Edition Bullet Journal

Tsuki “Torii” Limited Edition Bullet Journal

          

Tsuki “Falling Star” Limited Edition Bullet Journal

The first two I have interesting cover textures and the last one is a normal hard cover. But all are beautiful in my eyes. With the red one I even got the spiral paperclip. All the pages are very thick (160 gms), dotted and white in color. Each one has 176 pages and is A5 in size which after using the travel journal size and the square size journals I realized I like the best. Each one has 2 book marks. I’ve decided to start the year with the Tsuki “Falling Star” journal. 

I also love that it lays flat on the surface. Makes things very convenient.

          Finally, I also bought the Tsuki Bullet Journal Tracking Stamp Set. 

In total it has 25 stamps that include boxes, to do lists calendars, trackers and even the weather just to name a few. I don’t know if I am going to use all of it but it is certainly handy to have. 

Next week I will be showing you my adventures in setting up my new bullet journal.

Language Studies

           I started out the month going easy on myself because I honestly had no motivation to study much but as the month moved on I realized that if I left myself like this I would forget all the stuff that I learned and then I would have to start from the beginning again. So this week I bit the bullet and texted my teacher to let him know that I was ready to go back to taking weekly classes. I also decided to take Korean classes on italki and found a teacher through a series of trial lessons. She wasn't my first choice but my first choice doesn't have the time slots that I need and so I took my second choice. I've scheduled a series of five lessons and I will reassess after that. My Chinese lessons are still on going. 

          I also am focusing on one book at a time where it comes to Chinese and Korean and when that book is done I will move on to the next one. Doing two or more books at the same time was too much load work and made me confused at times. Focusing on one thing and later after it is done reinforcing it with the next thing is much better.

       So now for Korean I am working through Practical Korean after finishing Korean Grammar For Speakers and for Chinese I am working through Developmental Chinese with my Chinese teacher. Quality not quantity is what I am currently going for.

        Basically, when things aren't working change up your routine, don't stop and hope you retain when you have been doing while you get back your rhythm. At least not where language is concerned.

          As you can see from my tracker, there are days when only half a box is filled and that is okay. Half filled means I didn’t do all the tasks in this category but it can also mean I did half of them. I chose to see that I did half of them.

     

          

Monthly Update (December)

          Last month’s lack of motivation really messed me up when it came to my studies, and my journalling. I went days with out writing one sentence in my journal and I hated it. So I vowed that I wouldn’t push myself too much this month but That I should write as much as I can. 

NOVEMBER TRACKER PAGE:

Notice the crosses and brown splotches. The brown is me taking time off and the crosses are just me not having enough energy to do anything. 

There is one thing that I did do and that is pass the first semester of ZAD Academy.

DECEMBER TRACKER PAGE:

I messed up the grid a little so I used white out and then added a sticker on top. 😂 

I took out my morning routine and instead I added Apps as a thing I wanted to track otherwise nothing else changed. 

MONTHLY REVIEW:

I did do the monthly review and I poured my thoughts into it and what I might do different in December. 

DECEMBER COVER PAGE:

Yeah, don’t ask me why unicorns are a thing on this page, in fact don’t ask me why it looks like this. I have no idea.

MONTH AT A GLANCE PAGES:

December month at a glance page. 

This is November’s month at a glance.

MONTHLY GOALS:

Notice how compact it is. Yeah, I’m not doing much this month and that is deliberate. I need to regroup and relax. 

I decided that doing one book at a time right now was the way to go instead of working on many books all at once. 

Well, this is my update for this month.

More on Lack of Motivation

          In my previous post I talked about how I’ve been lacking motivation thanks to the whole 2020 catastrophe year and end of year blues. In this post I’d like to expand a little and maybe share with you all what I’ve been doing. 

1. Look at your goals and see which ones you can shift around or add more tiny steps too to make things easier on yourself and to not give .

2. Take a break. I gave myself a few days to just chill and do nothing but the absolute necessary. 

3. See if there is something that sparks your interest, that makes you want to do it then turn it into a reward for yourself if you do something, even if it is a small thing.

4. Change where you usually sit to do your work. A change of scenery is always a good reset. 

5. Be gentle on yourself. There is always tomorrow.

"End of Year" Motivation

           I don't know if I am the only one who has this problem, but I'm beginning to have what I like to call the "End of Year" lack of motivation syndrome. It is not a real syndrome as far as I know but it is real to me. End of October through to the beginning of the new year is a little bit of a dead zone for me when it comes to motivation to do anything. It is the time of the year where I tend to give up and just not do anything because I can't get over my lethargy. This is the time of year that I usually just give up on my goals that have not been done and just decided that I "can't do it". I realized this pattern after looking through my previous journals, and my goals oriented journal for this year. I decided to do things just a little differently.

          Looking at my goals now, I'm going to do what I can do, in small bite size chunks and what doesn't get done gets moved to next month and so on. It is OKAY for a goal to be shifted to the next year. What doesn't get done this year can still be finished next year when I am fresh and rested. Plus 2020 has not exactly been a normal year...

Monthly Update: November 2020

          As we neared the end of October I realized that by the end of the month I would not have enough pages for a full next month so I decided to move to a new notebook. The new notebook is the exact same one as the one I was using from May to October so no change there.

          Now let us talk about October. For the most part I started strong and then at the end I kind of lost steam. You can see it in my tracker a little bit. I decided to give myself some time off each week and there are times when for Korean and Mandarin I just studied using the apps which I don't think of as real study but at least I didn't leave off completely, and most of this happened at the end of the month mostly.

          I'm going to talk about my language studies and what I plan to change this month in a separate post suffice it to say, I'm tweaking my routine a bit. I might start a study challenge but we'll see. The first thing I did on October 31 was review the month and see which goals are working and which ones aren't or need tweaking.

I looked at my calendar as well as my monthly goal's page from October to see how I did and assess everything.

          Next I set up next month as usual. I did a title page using a simple post card that I liked and then set up my month at a glance calendar and my trackers.

Also as usual I set up my goals for this month. I'm happy with how the setup turned out as usual.

Change of plans and Kpop news

          Today was the day I was supposed to be announcing my surprise but alas, life got in the way and I am jot done putting it together yet so it will have to be shifted to next month...2020 is definitely a ride. Instead let us do something that we have not done for a while, Kpop News.

          Yesterday was a bitter sweet day. EXO’s Chen (Kim Jongdae) enlisted into the military. We as EXO-Ls were worried that we would not get a photo like we got with the other boys but finally finally we got some. I was so happy to see that picture because we got to see two things: Chen’s beautiful smile surrounded by his brothers and Suho. Suho being the good leader and brother was there to see his brother off. I was so proud of him. I was sad that Kai was not there but he probably had a schedule that he couldn’t cancel and said his goodbyes previously. 

          It will be a year and six months before Jongdae is free and I hope by that time the haters would have moved on or calmed down or whatever so that our boy can live in peace. 

          Before he announced his enlistment Chen released a single which was so heartfelt and so beautiful but felt like a goodbye for now kind of song. Our feelings were confirmed when the next day his enlistment was announced. He suffered so much for doing something that normal human beings do everyday. I hope he has time to heal and that he is safe and happy when he comes back. 

This is the single cover:

Here is the song he released before enlisting:

And here are the beautiful pictures we got as teasers for this song:

He is so handsome in these photos. Chen has one of these faces that grow on you the more you see him and learn about his personality. 

Finally here are the pictures dropped to bid him goodbye for now. 

See you later Soldier Kim Jongdae. Stay safe and happy and remember we will wait for you until you come back.

Language Study Strategies - Summaries

           One of the things that help me retain the lessons that I take with my teachers is to summarize the lesson after it ends. Basically, I summarize the grammar points that we talked about and if there are any new words that I learned in that lesson, I define it. I find that it helps cement an idea or grammar point and helps me find points that I may be shakey on so that I can ask my teacher for clarification or research it on my own. 

          One of the things that help me do that is to have a template for lesson summaries that I can always use. This means that my notes are always neat and I can keep them in one place which helps me find them later. I started out with a predesigned template from www.etsy.com but then found that they just didn't give me enough room to do what I need so I came up with my own version. 

          My template is quite simple. I have a page with the title "new words" where I add the new words that came up in the lesson and after defining them I write my own sentences using these words. This helps me see how that word is used and also helps me memorize it.  I can add as many pages after that as I need. The next page is "summary of grammar points" and this is where I summarize the grammar points for that lesson and write sentences that show how these grammar points are used. Again I can add as much pages as I need to complete my task. The final page is a "questions" page. This is where I add questions that I need to ask my teacher and then record the answers they give. I also add any corrections to my own sentences that they provide. 

          This template also works with self study books and Udemy classes. If you don't have a teacher to ask then you can go onto applications like HelloTalk and iTalki and ask people on there to look at your sentences or ask any questions you may have. I sometimes use these applications anyway because I'll get answers from native speakers and look for the natural organic way of saying something. I hope this helps you with your studies, and if you do use this strategy please let me know about the results.

Switching off

           While I was doing my reading for my Celtic Scholar blog and my Korean reading I looked at all the books I had around me on the table and realized that it has been a long time since the last time I read a book just for pleasure. I'm not even sure how long it has been since I read a fiction book. So as part of my daily winding down routine I was going to read a fiction book for 15 - 30 minutes minimum. 

          I still have not mastered the part about reading every day but when I have been able to read my fiction book I've noticed how happy my brain was for getting a break. I realized that previously this was my way of relaxing and switching off my brain.  

          I also looked at my weekly study/work load and realized that there was no days off. I mean once in a while I would feel like my brain was not functioning and I would not do something on that day but I have no specific days off. I have decided that Friday and Saturday are going to be my off days. I'm going to watch movies/dramas, read and just veg out and switch off.

          I also have not picked up a brush in months...not since the beginning of the year I think and so I have also decided that on my days off I will be doing that if I am inspired. 

          Why all this you ask? Because I have not been feeling inspired or creative lately and I think this is because I just have not switched off my brain voluntarily and regularly since January of this year. Work has been kicking my ass and my studies have taken a lot of my time and I've had no me time in forever.

Switching off is important for creativity and for being able to go on with your life.

Monthly Update (September - October 2020)

           This month I did a 3 months goal refresh so I didn't do a monthly review because that goes into the 3 months goal refresh. This would be the first time I use the format I made for myself inspired by the power-sheets. 

It is pretty simple and contained all the important points and goals that I wanted to focus on in the next three months.

          The next thing I did was put together my cover page for October. I had an idea in my head but in the end it did not end up looking like I wanted it to look.

I should have printed October 2020 on a white paper and glued it to the cover page. It was just too busy to be simply written on. Eh...you live and learn.

          I put together my calendar for the month of October and it was really easy now that I had done it last month. But first let me show you what my September calendar looks like. The read lettering are all the things that I had achieved for that month.

And this is October's calendar.

          Monthly goals are next. I needed to go back to both my 3 months refresh and the goals from the month of September. As I working through my goals for September I had sticky notes added to that page to things that I wanted to do this month.

And this is the goals page for this month.

          My trackers are very important to me and so this is the page that comes next, I'm going to start with my tracker from last month.

And this is the tracker page for this month.

I think it looks better this month :-)

Stay tuned

          I have something that I am currently working on that I will be revealing in the next month so stay tuned!

Language Studies Updates

          Originally this was going to be a whole different post, but since the item, I wanted to review has not arrived yet, and the album I wanted to review has not dropped yet, you are getting a language study update...SORRY!

          As you all know I'm studying both Korean and Chinese. I started with Korean on and off, then this year more seriously, and then around 2 months ago I added Chinese to my study schedule. Today I'm going to talk about the difference between studying something because you want too and actually studying something with a more focused thought in mind. 

          Around the end of last month, I decided that what I was doing with Korean and Chinese just was not really working in the way I thought. Where Korean is concerned I had a lot of grammar swimming away in my brain but no real concept of how to use it. I do okay with short sentences but not so great with long ones and while I talk to myself a lot in Korean when my teacher actually talks to me, I draw a blank as to how to answer. I understand what he says...I just can't answer. Chinese is a little better but my ability to recognize the characters that I am studying in Hanja is...lacking. So I thought about it and talked to my teachers about my problems, here is the new plan.

KOREAN:

1. My teacher and I have gone back to the beginning. I'm actually glad about that. I am going slowly at a pace that is just right. Even when I tell my teacher to move on he doesn't unless he tests me and is sure I got the concept down correctly. 

2. I'm continuing my studies in Talk To Me in Korean to continue to get my grammatical concepts however, it is no longer the one I really focus on.

3. I'm in Book 2 of Vitamin Korean and I'm working through it slooooowly because it explains small things that have escaped me the first time around and now I ask my teacher about every little thing that looks weird to me. Just because I understand it because of context it doesn't mean that I understand it, it just means I know what it means vaguely.

4. I'm on Book 1 of Practical Korean and like Vitamin Korean I'm taking it slooooow, rinse and repeat. 

5. WRITE! I'm writing more, in my journal, or even paragraphs to send to my teacher to correct. I need to get used to writing hence also reading.

6. Finally, My teacher told me to work towards a goal, and my goal is that in November 2021 I want to take TOPIK 1 Level 2 at least if not TOPIK 2 Level 3.

CHINESE:

1. My iTalki class is amazing and the book my teacher uses is very easy so I'm studying that as we take classes, after every 5 classes I take a week off to look over my notes and study and review the previous chapters to see if my grammatical concepts are improving.

2. I am working through HSK 1 course from ZeroToHero Chinese online and enjoying the class.

3. I am writing and asking my teacher questions as I go along even if I have to ask the same question 10 times, I'm lucky my teacher is patient. 

4. Like Korean I'm working towards a goal, I want to take the HSK exam in October of 2021, not sure yet at what level I want to take yet but let us say at least HSK level 1 though my teacher says I can go higher.

OBSERVATIONS:

I'm not sure if it is because I studied Korean first but I find that Chinese is very easy for me so far. Certainly much easier than Korean. Though I have to admit I love Korean more. Of course, writing, recognizing, and reading Hangeul is much easier than Hanja...

STAY TUNED: 

I have a thing going on and when it is done I will let you know all about it... so stay tuned!

Zenpop.JP 2 Box Review

It has been a long time since I’ve reviewed product boxes so today I’m giving you 2 reviews from the same company just because they arrived one after the other. 

The company is Zenopop.jp, and they have a subscription box for Japanese stationery. I’m not going to review them in the order they arrived but in the order they should have arrived in, but didn’t (not the company’s fault blame it on COVID 19 and the delays it has caused in the post office.)

JULY 2020 STATIONERY PACK: UNICORN PARTY

The box at first glance really does look like a Unicorn Party. Everything looked really cute but it was time to really dig into what is in the box.

I thought it was weird to have a nail polish bottle in a stationery pack but I was surprised to find out that it was actually a highlighter! There are two choices either mint or neon pink and I got the neon pink as you can see. 

Here is how it looks as a highlight but I have not tried it with a fountain pen yet 🤣. 

This cute thing is an eraser. I could have gotten either a white one or a pink one, I got the pink. I’m not sure how well it erases since I have not been able to bring myself to use it. 

I love washi tapes and as washi tapes go these are awesome. The one on top is watercolor washi tape by Tomomi Kokubu and the one on the bottom is Unicorn washi tape designed by Miki Takei.

This is a Unicorn memo pad. There are two patterns and I got the colorful one as you can see.

I love this thing. It is a Midori cleanup car. It cleans all the eraser rubbings and small dirt particles on the desk or paper.

This is a Kokuyo Beetle dual-tip highlighter. Honestly, I’ve been using it to underline important concepts in my studies. Since it gives you two lines at the same time.

This mechanical pencil is awesome. Mine broke the other day and I decided to try this one out and I love it. It is really smooth and easy on my arthritic hands.

3D stickers are something that I love using but I rarely find something I like. These ones I love. I love fishes.

This is a Unicorn letter set. It has 12 sheets and 6 envelopes. I love writing letters to add to gifts to make them more personal so these will come in handy.

And this wraps up the first box. 

AUGUST 2020 STATIONERY PACK - SUMMER FESTIVAL

This box was interesting. I loved the fan theme throughout it. So let’s take a look.

At first glance, I did not know what half the stuff in the box was and had to dig in the find out. 

I found this picture card really cute and funny. 

I thought this was a page flag but it turns out that this was a washi tape cutter. I have not tried it yet but I know from previous experience with something similar that they are very useful. 

I was not sure what this was either but it turns out to be a stand with sticky notes. 

These are going to be useful. I have a ton of short pencils because I like to use pencils to the last bit and these will make them last even longer than usual 🤣. 

This was obviously a greeting card. I love the whole polar bear eating watermelon thing. In case you don’t know in the summer most Asian and Middle Eastern counties will eat watermelons to cool down.

I love this washi tape because it looks so summery. The flowers are beautiful.

This is a Pentel brush pen. I love the way it writes. I can make thin lines as well as thick ones. The ink flows beautifully too. 

This fan is really pretty and it works really well. I’ve used it a couple of times so far and I love how small it but also how well it does its job.

These stickers are pretty versions of the already pretty fan. I’m looking forward to using them soon.

Look at those cute Jinbesan stickers! I love the silly smile on that shark whale’s face.

This is a pencil, I will be using it at some point.

And that is it for the second box.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: 

I liked all the stuff in the boxes. But...I’m not sure they are worth what I paid for them (37 dollars per box including shipping) I’ve had boxes that have had much more substantial stationery items and they cost much less than this. Now it could be that it is because these items are expensive in Japan 🤷🏽‍♀️.  I’ve already stopped my subscription to this box because while the items are really cute and the themes are interesting I don’t really feel like I am getting my money’s worth. Also, it takes too long to get the boxes, I know it is not the seller’s fault but I found it a little stressful trying to figure out if the box was lost or just late.